I don't know about you, but goodbyes are not high on my list of things that I like.  However, as a part of life, they are inevitable. When we think of goodbyes we mostly think about temporary situations, like between people going on a trip or leaving from a vacation.  But in life there is one goodbye that we always avoid talking about.  Someone once said that you are not really prepared to live until you are prepared to die. We really don’t like to talk about dying. We don’t get to pick the time when we will die. However, sometimes, we may know that time is getting nearer.  Usually, people who know the time is near, go about putting their affairs in order.  One of those tasks is making sure you tell those you love what you want to tell them before you’re gone.

            In John's Gospel, the 14th chapter, Jesus is in the process of telling his disciples those last things he wants to make sure they understand. I think perhaps this chapter of John gives more hope and comfort to you and I especially in times when someone we love has gone to meet the Lord.  If you have a Bible handy, you may want to join me as we turn to John the 14th chapter.

John 14:1- Jesus said, "Don't let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust in me. 2 There are many rooms in my Father's house; I would not tell you this if it were not true. I am going there to prepare a place for you.3 After I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me so that you may be where I am. 4 You know the way to the place where I am going."

Jesus had been telling his disciples that his time to go to the cross was quickly coming.  As you might imagine, none of them were overjoyed.  They were sad.  They knew what that meant. Jesus gave them this promise to comfort them.  It is also perhaps one of the greatest promises that we have of what we can look forward to as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ.  Jesus may have gone from us physically, but he hasn't left us permanently.  He's gone to make a place for us, and he's given us his promise that he'll return and take us to where he is.

We have the benefit of looking at the Scripture with hindsight; we already know what has taken place.  But the disciples didn't know at this point, they still were not sure exactly what Jesus was talking about.  So naturally a question arose.  Thomas was the one to ask the question.  John records that question for us in verse five.

5 Thomas said to Jesus, "Lord, we don't know where you are going. So how can we know the way?"

 6 Jesus answered, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. The only way to the Father is through me. 7 If you really knew me, you would know my Father, too. But now you do know him, and you have seen him."

Jesus answer to Thomas question is perhaps the most important answer to any question in all of life.  Today our society is consumed with the idea of how to get to God. Jesus tells us there is only one way to get to God, and it is through him.  He is the way, he is the truth, and he is the life.  However, our society has many people wanting to satisfy their own desires. And they will try to find any other way that they can to get to God in order to have their cake and eat it too. To accept the premise that Jesus Christ is the only way to God means that they also have to accept the teachings of Jesus Christ. They have to accept that the Bible is the Word of God.  And if it is the Word of God, they have to accept its instructions and moral guidelines.  If they can create another way to God other than Jesus Christ, that means they can have their ultimate goal, which is a relationship with God and their ultimate desire, which is not to be obligated to follow any standard other than their own, to satisfy their own desires without any fear of consequences or retribution.

Phillip still didn't understand what Jesus was saying.  Philip asked the question, "Lord, show us the father.  That is all we need."  For you and I looking at this passage of scripture again, in hindsight, it is easy for us to grasp the concept of Jesus and the father being one.  But I'm not sure that the disciples understood what that meant.  Jesus gave Philip this answer:

 8 Philip said to him, "Lord, show us the Father. That is all we need."

 9 Jesus answered, "I have been with you a long time now. Do you still not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. So why do you say, 'Show us the Father'? 10 Don't you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words I say to you don't come from me, but the Father lives in me and does his own work.11 Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me. Or believe because of the miracles I have done.12 I tell you the truth, whoever believes in me will do the same things that I do. Those who believe will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.13 And if you ask for anything in my name, I will do it for you so that the Father's glory will be shown through the Son. 14 If you ask me for anything in my name, I will do it.

I suppose it is the same doubt that plagues us today.  It keeps many from understanding the reality of God, of who he is and how it's possible for God to exist as father and spirit and son, equally at the same time, and be one God.  They couldn't grasp the concept of Jesus and the father being one.  Just as we have a hard time understanding that same concept.  John records Jesus explaining this principle even further in chapter 15.  As a believer we get more of a sense of exactly what Jesus is talking about. From the moment of our salvation God places the Holy Spirit within us.  It is God dwelling within us that enables us to do what we need to do as believers.  It is God dwelling within us in the person of the Holy Spirit, who gives us the strength to live the lives we need to live as Christians. In this way we can better understand exactly what Jesus was talking about.  As Christians, when the Holy Spirit dwells within us.  We are one with God. 

Jesus continues, giving his instructions to his disciples. 

John records this starting in the 15th verse of this chapter.

15 "If you love me, you will obey my commands. 16 I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper to be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it does not see him or know him. But you know him, because he lives with you and he will be in you.

    18 "I will not leave you all alone like orphans; I will come back to you. 19 In a little while the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you will live, too.20 On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and that you are in me and I am in you. 21 Those who know my commands and obey them are the ones who love me, and my Father will love those who love me. I will love them and will show myself to them."

Jesus is explaining to his disciples, exactly what he means about dwelling together as one.  He gives us a great promise, he says, if you love me you will obey my commands. And if we obey his commands, He says he will ask the father and he will give us another helper who will be with us forever, the Spirit of truth.  Jesus makes the promise that he will live with us and he will be in us.  What a great promise as believers that we can take from God, that he himself through the power of the Holy Spirit lives and dwells within us.

John continues:

 22 Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, "But, Lord, why do you plan to show yourself to us and not to the rest of the world?"

 23 Jesus answered, "If people love me, they will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. 24 Those who do not love me do not obey my teaching. This teaching that you hear is not really mine; it is from my Father, who sent me.

    25 "I have told you all these things while I am with you. 26 But the Helper will teach you everything and will cause you to remember all that I told you. This Helper is the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name.

Jesus reminds his disciples and us of this plain truth.  In verses 22 to 26 Judas asked the question why Jesus shows himself to the disciples not to the rest of the world.  The answer will become plain to them after his ascension, when they see, that it is through them that he intends to take his message to the rest of the world. Jesus also emphasizes the necessity of obedience and what obedience says about us.  He says in verse 23 if people love me.  They will obey my teaching.  The reward of that obedience is the promise that the father will come to make his home with us, dwelling in us through the Holy Spirit.  And He also tells them about those who do not love him.  They're characterized by those who do not obey his teachings.

    27 "I leave you peace; my peace I give you. I do not give it to you as the world does. So don't let your hearts be troubled or afraid. 28 You heard me say to you, 'I am going, but I am coming back to you.' If you loved me, you should be happy that I am going back to the Father, because he is greater than I am. 29 I have told you this now, before it happens, so that when it happens, you will believe. 30 I will not talk with you much longer, because the ruler of this world is coming. He has no power over me, 31 but the world must know that I love the Father, so I do exactly what the Father told me to do.

Jesus reassures them again by telling him and us that he leaves with them his peace. His peace is a peace unlike the world gives, and it's a peace that allows us to experience calm in the face of what the world cannot understand.  It is a peace that allows us to face those goodbyes in this world that confidently allow us to face the next world.  When we're prepared with God's peace, we can face anything.  Just as Jesus was preparing his disciples for what was to come if we are obedient and listen to his words and do as he instructs his peace will flow through us and prepare us for anything that we will face.